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Step It Up for Gender Equality on International Women’s Day!

08 March 2017 – “We have to start change at home and in the earliest days of school, so that there are no places in a child’s environment where they learn that girls must be less, have less, and dream smaller than boys.”- Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director.

March 8th marks International Women’s Day with women and men gathering en masse across the world at various events to celebrate this occasion. The United Nation’s theme for 2017 focuses on “Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030”.

How much do you really know about women and the economy? You can take this short quiz to find out.

Women and girls are facing employment inequalities in both developing and developed countries with 49.6% of women of working age employed in workforces worldwide compared to 76.1% of men! Women are more likely to be unemployed, with female youth unemployment almost double that of young men in regions such as Northern Africa and the Northern Arab States.

The gender pay gap contributes greatly to inequalities experienced by women. Globally, women only make 77 cents for every dollar earned by men for work of equal value, with women who have children even more vulnerable to inequalities due to the “motherhood penalty”!

Here’s an interesting fact: women bear a disproportionate burden of unpaid work across the world. Unpaid work is important for our economy with domestic work valued to be between 10 and 39% of the GDP. Men lending a hand at home, along with effective government policies can help girls and women enter the labour force and recognize their true potential.

“Women’s rights are human rights. But in these troubled times, as our world becomes more unpredictable and chaotic, the rights of women and girls are being reduced, restricted and reversed. Empowering women and girls is the only way to protect their rights and make sure they can realize their full potential.”- Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary General

When the Security Council approaches the final stage of negotiation of a draft resolution the text is printed in blue... What's in Blue helps interested UN readers keep up with what might soon be "in blue".

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